Wheeling Park places pair on Class AAA first team

December 14, 2013

To say that Wheeling Park Coach Chris Daugherty was less than impressed when freshman Zach Phillips showed up on the scene would be a major understatement. Phillips came in at a scrawny 117 pounds.

He split time during that preseason getting minimum reps with another freshman quarterback, the more brawny Matt Hackathorn.

Fast forward to 2013.

Both Phillips and Hackathorn are members of the Class AAA first team all-state squad, released Friday by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association. Phillips is at quarterback, Hackathorn on the offensive line.

"We weren't really sure what we were going to do in the future (at quarterback) but we could see very quickly that, despite how small Zach was, he showed great poise, great leadership and an outstanding knowledge of the game," Daugherty said. "That he has come this far is a credit to Zach. He got in the weight room. He got bigger, and he worked at the position."

The knowledge was born at home. His dad, Keith, is the Park offensive coordinator, and a former college offensive coordinator. Phillips is now 6-foot-2, 180-pound college prospect.

On the season he completed 116 of 189 passes for 1,974 yards with 22 touchdowns and five interceptions.

"He gets the ball from Point A to Point B quicker than any kid I've had," Daugherty said. "It's hard to prepare for that when you don't see it every week. When you add his accuracy, he was a big, big weapon."

Hackathorn went from quarterback to an offensive tackle, not a traditional position switch. These days, Hackathorn is a 6-5, 255-pound college prospect.

"A lot of the coaches rave about his footwork, how fast he is for an offensive lineman," Daugherty said. "That comes from starting his career as a quarterback."

Morgantown running back Chazzy Thomas is captain of the first-team offense. Despite getting injured in the eighth week of the season, Thomas finished with 2,108 yards on just 174 carries (12.1 yards per carry) and scored 30 touchdowns. He was limited to three carries in the Mohigans' first-round playoff loss to University.

"He's a really deserving young man to be named captain," Morgantown Coach John Bowers said. "That was two years in a row he got injured and it robbed him of finishing the season. He was putting up some daggoned video-game numbers and then he got hurt."

Shifty Martinsburg dual-threat quarterback Malique Watkins in the offensive utility player (232-1,790-20 rushing and 62 of 105 passes for 934 yards and 15 TDs) and Jefferson's Hunter Colbert is the kicker after booting eight field goals and 25 PATs in the Cougars' 10-game regular season.

Defensively, Nigel Cabell of Huntington, Tony Richardson University, James Walton of Capital, the Hunt Award winner as the state's top lineman and Troy Walker, son of Martinsburg Coach Dave Walker, are the defensive linemen.